Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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97. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position, as per his Department's definition, whereby a young farmer can create entitlements on naked hectares farmland which has had purchase finalised in 2015, when that farmer is only now farming in their own right for the first time and has an off-farm income in excess of €40,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13656/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In accordance with relevant EU Regulations, to be eligible for an allocation of entitlements under the Young Farmer priority category of the National Reserve an applicant must meet the following conditions:

- S/he is participating in the Basic Payment Scheme in the year in which s/he submits an application;

- S/he is aged no more than 40 years of age at any time during the calendar year in which s/he first submits an application under the Basic Payment Scheme;

- S/he has successfully completed a recognised course of education in agriculture giving rise to an award at FETAC level 6 or its equivalent. Alternatively s/he must commit to commencing such a course by 30 ^thSeptember 2016;

- Has a gross off-farm income that does not exceed €40,000 in one of the tax years 2013 or 2014;

- S/he is setting up an agricultural holding for the first time or has set up such a holding during the five years preceding the first submission of the Basic Payment Scheme application.

The process of deciding objective criteria for the National Reserve is carried out in consultation with the Direct Payments Advisory Committee which includes members of the main farming bodies and advisory services. After consultation with this Committee in recent months and in the context of the limited funding available to the National Reserve, it was decided that an off farm income limit of €40,000 would be applied to all applicants. The corresponding off farm income limit under the previous National Reserve was €30,000. Applicants under the 2015 National Reserve also have the flexibility of choosing either the 2013 or 2014 tax year, whichever is more advantageous.

Applicants must comply with all eligibility criteria including off farm income criteria in order to be deemed eligible to qualify for an allocation of entitlements under the National Reserve. By increasing the off-farm income limit and granting a choice of reference years, I have granted the maximum possible flexibility regarding income limits for the National Reserve.

Where a young farmer is ineligible to qualify for the National Reserve due to the off-farm income threshold, he/she may obtain entitlements for their land by way of lease or purchase from 2016 onwards and qualify for the Young Farmer Scheme which does not have an off-farm income threshold as part of the qualifying criteria for that scheme.